Must-Have Monday is a feature where I gather together the books I think you should know about from the coming week’s new releases. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I want to highlight out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other stuff occasionally makes it in too. Corrections and suggestions are very welcome!

SIXTEEN books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

The Glory of Gold (The Inka Land, #1) by V.F. Mejia
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Incan cast, sapphic MCs
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

Sinchinrei has one goal: rise through the ranks of the Inkan armyand prove her worth to the mother who abandoned her.

So when the empire’s sacred Guardians choose her, not the legendary princess, as the hero against an age-old calamity, Sinchinrei is eager to take up the mantle of savior. But calamity strikes early, forcing her and the furious princess together on a quest across the empire... unprepared and at each other’s throats.

With the princess determined to escape their shared fate and an empire on the brink of ruin, Sinchinrei’s relentless ambition could cost her everything: her destined glory and her heart.

Incan sapphics??? AHHHH I WANT!

Magic City Mayhem by Marcus X. Figuerola
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Representation: Cuban-American MC
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

In Miami, death is just another hustle.

Archmagus Pablo Díaz is Miami’s most overworked necromancer, and he’d like you to know he didn’t ask for this life. Unfortunately, Miami keeps dying — violently, inconveniently, and in places that ruin his shoes.

Struggling to meet the expectations of his Cuban-born father – and swamped by Papi's medical bills – Pablo sells his abilities to anyone willing to pay, from grieving widows to homicide detectives.

But when a pair of mutilated corpses wash out of Biscayne Bay and point their bony fingers toward Miami’s criminal underbelly, Pablo is drawn into a mystery that tugs on every string in his life: the Necropolis beneath the city, the cutthroat magical academy, and the increasingly erratic Chancellor who raised a tower out of the ground—and out of the dead.

As his investigation unleashes eldritch monsters on the streets of Miami, Pablo must balance duty, danger, and the complicated business of being a good son. Because something dark is stirring in the Magic City, and this time, even a necromancer might be in over his head.

Featuring bilingual dialogue woven through its supernatural noir sensibilities, Magic City Mayhem speaks to readers of Jim Butcher, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Junot Díaz — with enough humor, ghosts, and cafecito to wake the dead.

I haven’t heard much about this one, but it sounds interesting!

The Broken Hearts Agency by Clarence A. Haynes
Genres: Adult
Representation: Queer Black MC/s
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

AN EVIL FORCE IS FEASTING ON DESIRE...

Evelyn Kendricks is having a day. An overworked, exploited manager, she’s been dumped by her toxic boyfriend while struggling to cope with the recent ghost invasion that’s shocked the world. Devastated, she is mysteriously summoned to an eerie townhouse where she meets Linda Villaneuva, a private investigator who runs a secret mystical detective agency. She’s able to sense the emotions of others, especially those suffering from heartache.

Linda would like nothing more than to help her latest client, but she soon makes a gruesome discovery: People are losing their memories and wandering DC streets in a zombie-like daze. Their eyes, demon red. Their skin, blistered, burning…and no one understands why. Panic has begun to consume the city as more folks succumb, putting Evelyn and other residents at risk.

In the biggest case of her life, Linda follows a trail of clues to unearth an evil force far deadlier than anything she could’ve imagined. And all the while, she must reckon with the tragedies of her past and the price she’s paid for her supernatural gifts.

A layered urban fantasy that serves up spicy romance, titillating mystery, and otherworldly horror, The Broken Hearts Agency is the latest page-turner from an acclaimed storyteller.

I keep hearing great things about this author!

You can read an except here! (Where it says Read a free chapter below the book cover)

The Bloodweaver (The Weaver Saga, #1) by C. N. Kuster
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

A divisive magic. A shattered family. A brewing war.

In a world where some can manipulate life with a single touch, siblings fight on rival sides, forced to reckon with the choices that led them there.

Three generations ago, ancient and mysterious beings introduced the world to the arcane art of Bloodweaving, which allows its practitioners to manipulate life with merely a touch. Now, Bloodweavers must hide in plain sight or risk being hunted by violent regime soldiers known as Breakers, who will stop at nothing to eradicate weaving once and for all.

Though his family’s vineyard has flourished thanks to Bloodweaving, Kerick DeLuvena has kept his powers a secret from everyone, including his beloved fellow triplets, Mel and Emiel. When a squad of Breakers arrives on the day of Emiel’s wedding, Kerick weaves himself a new face and flees to protect his family, setting out in search of the Ravel, a secret society of Bloodweavers who stand on the precipice of an uprising.

Meanwhile, Mel’s girlfriend is identified as a Bloodweaver and arrested. Devastated by so much loss, Mel hatches a plan to get captured in the same raid, hoping to protect her love at all costs, even if it means allying herself with the Breakers’ ruthless commander and serving the very force that tore her family apart.

As the consequences of the siblings’ diverging paths ripple across a divided and hostile world, both must eventually face the same Is Bloodweaving a miracle—or a curse?

The gripping debut of the Weaver Saga is perfect for fans of V.E. Schwab, Andrea Stewart, and Fonda Lee.

I ended up DNFing this one, partly because it’s very slow, but the magic is VERY cool, so if that’s your thing Bloodweaver might be of interest to you!

You can listen to an excerpt of the audiobook here!

Hunt the Ever Wild by S.E. Kiser
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual MC/s
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

A new gothic standalone that combines the gaslamp fantasy of C. L. Polk’s Witchmark with the slow-burn rivals-to-lovers romance of Isa Agajanian’s Modern Divination and the whimsy of Howl’s Moving Castle.

When the king calls a hunt for the Lichtenwald forest’s elusive phoenix, wizard Sy jumps at the chance. Years ago, he indentured himself to the crown to pay for his magical education, and an unbreakable spell binds him to carry out the king’s every wicked whim, or face certain death. The prize is enough to pay off his debt, but he can’t survive the forest alone. Seeking help, he finds Anya, a skilled huntress living on the Lichtenwald’s edge, and lies about splitting the prize.

But Anya’s lying too. Cursed by a witch after killing her familiar, Anya must find the phoenix and bind it to the witch by the summer solstice, or else suffer a gruesome transformation. With the curse worsening and the Lichtenwald swarming with wizards, she needs Sy on her side – for now.

Neither of them can split the prize, nor win alone. And despite the growing attraction between them, betrayal remains their only option.

But anything is possible in the forest.

And the forest is hungry.

I’ve gotta be honest, that cover does not say ‘gothic’ to me, but knowing that this is a gothic standalone makes the premise much more interesting to me!

You can read an excerpt here! (Where it says Read a free chapter below the book cover)

Bethesda by Lisa Morris
Genres: Adult, Horror, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

Tryss just wants to get home to say goodbye to her dad before he passes away, but when she pulls off the freeway to find a gas station, she ends up stuck in Bethesda, a backwoods town with no cell service and a car that won’t start. Worse still, the town’s citizens aren’t exactly…alive. Unless you count the Barbs. They’re Bethesda’s sisterhood of cloned caretakers, and they may look friendly, but like the town, surface impressions can be deceiving. In her attempt to leave, Tryss meets Aiden, who’s been stuck in Bethesda for six months and has all but given up hope of escaping. They team up to figure out the town’s deadly—and just plain weird—secrets, but will the town actually let them leave?

This has been described as a horror comedy, and it’s not hard to see how that premise could result in hilarity! I’m already obsessed with the idea of the Barbs!

You can read an excerpt here! (Where it says Preview Now beside/beneath the book cover)

Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Genres: Adult, Sci Fi
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

Philip Marlowe meets Redwall

in this superior adult noir tale, where all the characters are animals, fighting for survival in the city underneath the humans. In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity—unseen, unheard.

Meet Skotch. Racoon, P.I.—Yours for a few buttons as long as the job isn't too illegal, whatever that means.

A mouse has gone missing. Normally this wouldn't raise any hackles, nor any alarms, but this mouse has something that everyone seems to want, though nobody appears particularly eager to say what that something is.

The fee is good—perhaps too good. Certainly not something Skotch can easily turn down.

If only Skotch can work out where the mouse is hiding, what he's hiding, and why his secrets are upsetting a lot of animals caught up in the Green City wars.

Children of Time convinced me I want to read more Tchaikovsky, and this sounds like a lot of fun!

You can read an excerpt here!

The Tinder Box by M.R. Carey
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

In a kingdom forgotten by history, a legend unfolds . . .

Wounded in his county's endless wars, former soldier Mag Tresti finds work in the home of a reclusive widow, Jannae Mirchella. But Jannae is more than she seems. A witch of great skill and might, she hides her powers and her deep-laid plans behind a mask of harmless respectability.

When a dead demon falls out of the sky, the fates of the soldier and the witch are irrevocably intertwined. On the demon's body Mag finds a tinderbox - an artefact of terrifying magical power that can not only grant his every wish, but also change the fate of nations.

This is a tale of spellcraft and devilry, of witchcraft and trickery - of the wickedness that resides within a few, the goodness that lies deep within us all, and the choices on which our lives turn.

The Tinder Box is one of my favourite fairytales, and I’m very curious about Carey’s take on it!

You can read an excerpt here!

Doe by Rebecca Barrow
Genres: Horror, YA
Representation: Black sapphic MC
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

Thrilling crossover YA Horror perfect for fans of Krystal Sutherland and Tiffany Jackson, where the captain of a high school cheer team is caught in a bitter rivalry and turns to an ancient, supernatural creature for help, not knowing she’s just  made a deal with a devil and could lose everything that matters, including her life.

Maris Larsen is the captain of the West Eaton High cheer team. She’s Coach’s favorite and the team worships her. Being on the team makes her feel special—powerful. When she’s leading the girls on the mat, Maris doesn’t have to think about her dead-end life in a dead-end town. She can forget about her depressed mother and absent father and the fact that her girlfriend doesn’t really love her. But when newcomer and Coach’s new golden girl, Genevieve Ray, joins the team, the only thing going right in Maris’s life is suddenly in jeopardy. A bitter rivalry develops between the two, but Maris is determined to take Genevieve down. The knife she needs to wield comes to Maris in her dreams.

While sleepwalking, Maris is visited by a monstrous, decaying beast in the shape of an enormous deer. Doe is an ancient, tired creature who has been wandering, trapped in her current form for decades. She cannot die, but she cannot go on living as she has. Only a girl related by blood to those who bound her in this form can free her, but those girls she loved died years ago—murdered in a fire.

But Maris is somehow linked to Doe’s beloved girls—linked by blood—and so she has the power to free Doe, to unleash her immense power. In Maris’s dreams, she and Doe form a bond, but Maris doesn’t know the creature from her dreams is real. Maris doesn’t understand the danger she’s in. She only knows Doe has promised her a way to win her battle with Genevieve. But for Maris to win, someone has to die, and the only real winner in the end will be Doe.

Sounds magnificent: I’m in!

You can read an excerpt here! (Where it says Read a free chapter below the book cover)

A Great and Powerful Tyranny by Victoria Carbol
Genres: Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 23rd June 2026
Goodreads

Perfect for fans of Holly Black’s The Cruel Prince, this dark, queer reimagining of the classic Wizard of Oz tale centers a slow-burn, sapphic enemies to lovers romance in an electrifying portal fantasy.

The first book in the Song of the Ghost Queen duology from debut author Victoria Carbol.

Falling into a world of magic and oppression, Kansas-born Thia joins three cursed companions in a quest to free them and send herself home.

Orphaned from a young age, Thia has spent her life trying to live up to her mother’s legacy as a doctor. She’s on track to become a promising medical student, yet she feels like she was meant for something else. The life she thought she knew comes crashing down one stormy Kansas day when Thia inadvertently uncovers clues that reveal her grandma has been lying to Her mother was never a doctor; she was a scholar of the supernatural, and all she left behind was a strange mirror that Thia’s grandma is convinced is dangerous.

Angry with her grandma for her deception, Thia leaves in a rage and accidentally falls through the mirror, killing a witch and crashing into a terrifying land ruled by the cruel and powerful Mage King.

Joined by a heartless girl, a cowardly academic, and a boy who cannot remember his past, Thia seeks out the Mage King, the only man powerful enough to send her home and grant her companions’ desires. In their quest, Thia discovers her mother was a part of the rebellion to overthrow the Mage King, and she must reckon with her mother’s real legacy. With each new truth revealed, it becomes harder to ignore the undeniable connection between Thia and the cursed, heartless girl, and even harder to decide where, in the end, Thia ultimately belongs.

This one has had quite a bit of hype, and I’d really like to give it a try!

The Game of Hearts (Love in Netherford, #3) by Natania Barron
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Historical Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy
Representation: M/M
Published on: 24th June 2026
Goodreads

A Comedy of Manners and Werewolves

The doors to Faerie have been thrown open, straining the already tense relations between mundane and magical folk. As the home of the half-mortal son of a great fae queen, the quiet village of Netherford has become a rallying place for those striving for peace.

But for Roland de Grateloup—only son of the High Witch, confirmed bachelor and rake, and werewolf—it is an agonising exile. After his mother’s abduction, he is urged to flee London for the country until the danger has passed. The prospect of a whole season among country folk yawns ahead of him.

To distract himself, Roland sets about his favourite matchmaking. He throws himself into the Game of Hearts, interfering in the lives of the people of the village, and tries not to dwell too much on his own loneliness. If only he could stop thinking about his business partner and landlord, the beautiful if awkward Basil Hode…

This is the third in a series of standalones; I don’t think you need to have read the earlier books, but it would help you with some of the context.

You can read an excerpt here! (Where it says View Previews beneath/beside the book cover)

Ballad of the Banished by Victoria Jansen
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romantic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
Published on: 25th June 2026
Goodreads

Eighteen-year-old Yrsa serves the gods as a Valkyrie, guiding the souls of fallen warriors from Midgard to the golden halls of Valhalla. But when she falls in love with a warrior she’s supposed to reap, she breaks the most important law. She lets him live.

When the Goddess of Death discovers Yrsa’s defiance, she offers a cruel retrieve the scattered pieces of Freyja’s lost armor before midsummer but be exiled from Valhalla, or lose the warrior to eternal torment in the underworld but return to her Valkyrie sisters. Succeed, and she can save the soul she couldn’t bear to reap. Fail, and he’s lost forever, along with any chance of making things right.

She sets out on her quest, burdened by guilt and bound by duty. But she doesn’t go alone. Gunhild, a fearless shieldmaiden, refuses to let Yrsa face the journey without her. Fierce, defiant, and loyal, Gunhild is everything Yrsa was taught not to long for. And yet, with every battle they fight and every silence they share, Yrsa aches for something she doesn’t know how to name.

But Yrsa can’t afford to follow the pull of her heart. If she fails to complete her quest, the warrior’s soul will remain in torment below, and she will be bound to Midgard—forsaken by the gods and cast out from the sisterhood that once gave her purpose.

The cover doesn’t say romantasy to me, but that’s how Jansen has described the story.

I Feel Your Pain by A.M. Ellis
Genres: Sci Fi, Dystopia, YA
Representation: Black MCs
Published on: 25th June 2026
Goodreads

They were never meant to share a future – only the pain that connects them. Noughts & Crosses meets This Mortal Coil in this gripping dystopia-romance set in a future where pain is transferable but comes at a high cost.

Ever since a cataclysmic solar flare struck 150 years ago, Helical Disease has plagued the city of Alta Bay. Those infected endure excruciating pain and a blue light that crackles beneath their skin. There is no cure.

However, Dominion Pharmaceuticals has created a revolutionary treatment that transfers the disease to people with unusually high pain thresholds. These Pain Carriers feel little to no pain, and they’re paid generously for their sacrifice.

Nova Williams is too focused on surviving to question the system.
Castor Fox, heir to the Dominion empire, is proud of his family’s legacy.

When a chance road accident throws them together, the pair form an unlikely connection. But as they begin to fall for each other, a devastating truth comes to Nova is Castor’s Pain Carrier.

As darker secrets about the procedure emerge, Nova and Castor must decide whether to accept a broken world . . . or risk everything to change it.

I was a big fan of Malorie Blackman back in the day, so the comp to her has nabbed my attention!

The Rifter Vol. 3: The Holy Road by Ginn Hale
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 26th June 2026
Goodreads

Ripped from his home on Earth, John has survived for years in the magical world of Basawar by avoiding confrontations and fitting in. He knows that he’s on the verge of returning home, if he can only manage to keep hiding a little longer. But as his relationships within the mystic Payshmura order grow more passionate, so too do his conflicts.

When another witch is condemned to burn at the Harvest Fair, John can’t stop himself from taking action. Soon he’s caught up in a battle that threatens to expose all his secrets and cost him his life.

Last week we had the first two books of this series; this week, the rest! I am GLEEFUL, I’ve wanted to read this series for so long!

You can read an excerpt of volume three here! (Where it says Preview Now beside/beneath the book cover)

Price of a Thousand Blessings Volume 4 by Ginn Hale
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 26th June 2026
Goodreads

The infamous port city of Yanyeo appears vibrant and charming. Lotus-strewn canals teem with lively merchants by day, while pleasure houses and gambling dens light the night with indulgent revelry. All of it reminds Cymin of the delights he and Laithondi shared in a past life.

But deep beneath the canal waters, a curse has been released and an enemy from Cymin’s past stalks him once again. Talented mages all across the city are quietly going missing. Mutilated remains have washed ashore.

Then Cymin’s friend Xaon disappears.

Racing to find him, Cymin and Laithondi plunge into the lair of a criminal syndicate, where their secrets are in danger and their lives are at risk.

And a fourth book from Ginn Hale this week! Which is also the fourth in her Price of a Thousand Blessings series! Not sure if this is the conclusion, though?

The Concubine King by Emily Oracle
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: 26th June 2026
Goodreads

The political intrigue of Captive Prince meets the aching passion of The Song of Achilles in this adult fantasy that explores the shackles of obligation, the anguish of solitude, and what happens when we betray the ones we love most.

For centuries, the gods have chosen a king from the order of priests who dedicate their lives to serving them. So when the gods choose Ethyr to be king, a peasant farmer from the farthest edge of the kingdom, it upends his life without warning and thrusts him into a world that is the opposite of everything he’s ever known: spoiled with luxury and riches beyond his wildest imaginings, but trapped in a gilded cage of obligation. As Ethyr does his best to please the gods and understand the society he’s been forced into, he begins to realize there is more to the gods’ choice than hedonistic preference. Now he must navigate the treachery and deception of slippery palace politics, all while trying to unravel the enigmatic motives of the gods who made him king.

A comp to Captive Prince does not fill me with confidence…but I AM kind of interested in this premise…

You can read an excerpt here! (Where it says View Now beside/beneath the book cover)

Will you be reading any of these? Did I miss any releases you think I should know about? Let me know!

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